10 Free Advice Tips on Choosing
the Right CNA Prep Training

Be Careful | Be Informed | Be Satisfied

During the past six years of offering CNA Prep Courses, Florida Medical Prep has watched numerous CNA Prep courses quickly pop up and often disappear at record speeds. This has become a growing problem because it hurts the healthcare industry and also compromises the credibility of quality CNA Prep courses such as ours.

Regardless if you plan to attend class at one of our three locations, please let us give you some free advice on how to avoid wasting your time and hard earned money on the many low quality CNA Prep courses offered throughout the State of Florida.

To help you make a better informed decision and to determine what CNA Test Prep course is right for you, please do your homework and research the following:

1

Contact the Commission for Independent Education, Florida Department of Education, to see if the CNA Test Prep business you are considering is a TRUE CNA Test Prep business!

Many CNA Prep courses are offered with NO knowledge or awareness by the Florida Department of Education.

You can call (850) 245-0505 or simply go to https://app1.fldoe.org/cie/SearchSchools/Default.aspx to research licensing information for any educational facility or business you may be considering now or in the future.

For example, if you were to search Pinellas County, you can scroll down to the “F” section and clearly see that Florida Medical Prep is both a licensed school (License #3918) and also a TRUE CNA Test Prep business.

Unfortunately, many CNA Prep entities operate illegally; and are not real or true CNA Prep businesses. Florida Medical Prep highly encourages you to contact the Commission for Independent Education, Florida Department of Education to check out their status.

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2

Check the Better Business Bureau (BBB)
to see if any CNA Prep business you are
considering has any registered complaints.

Simply go to http://westflorida.bbb.org/Find-Business-Reviews/ and enter the name of any business you intend to do business with. The BBB issues a rating for each business and gives you trust that the business is being monitored. For example, if you check out Florida Medical Prep, you will see that based on BBB files, Florida Medical Prep has a BBB Rating of A- on a scale from A+ to F. You can also see any complaints filed against us and how we were able to resolve those issues.

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3

Always check to see if the CNA Prep businesses you
are considering are indeed a Florida based corporation and/or have an occupational business license.

It only takes a minute to see verify that any business is indeed a Florida based corporation. Simply to go to http://www.sunbiz.org/corinam.html and enter the name of the business or school you are considering. This gives you peace of mind that the business is legitimate.

For example, if you click here, you can view Florida Medical Prep’s Corporation Licensing information.

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4

VISIT and TOUR any CNA Test Prep training
facility you are considering to see for yourself
if the place meets your standards!

Yes, today most of us like to research and make decisions from the comforts of our home (via online), however you must keep in mind that online marketing gimmicks and clever writing skills create business opportunities for business scammers! By taking a little bit of time to actually visit the facility you are considering, you will be able to get an idea of what you’re getting yourself into and exactly what kind of company you will be doing business with.

Many of the “thrown together” CNA Prep businesses talk big on their websites, however when you go visit you clearly see that the facility is very small and you get a better idea of how comfortable you will feel training in that particular space. When you walk into the facility, you can determine within the first few minutes if the owner just pockets the money or if they invest the money back into the training facility to create a better learning environment for the students they serve.

For example, once you learn the number of students that attend each class, look at the size of the space and exactly how many students would have to work at one hospital bed. Does the facility have separate restrooms facilities? Or do they expect the entire class to share one restroom that is also used for classroom training? Most importantly, when you picture in your mind all the students in the classroom, will you have enough space to feel comfortable? We often hear complaints about other CNA Prep courses that consist of one or two hospital beds to be shared by 12 or more students (how is that possible?).  

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5

How long is the total course and how many
classroom hours are included with the quoted price?

This question is important because of the huge amount of information you must learn in such a short amount of time. For example, if you have little or no experience, we do not recommend that you take any type of course that is completed in less then 25 hours. Keep in mind, you must know 21 clinical procedures to pass your clinical portion of the CNA exam and also know the CNA textbook in order to pass your written test. So it’s very important to ask these businesses offering CNA courses how is it possible to learn this in less than 25 hours?

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6

How many hours of the class time are
dedicated to classroom hands-on training?

Today, many businesses are offering the entire CNA Prep course in one or two days with little to no hands-on training. Beware of any course that does not provide ample time to practice each clinical skill hands-on with an instructor overseeing that you do them correctly. You also want to clarify that your CPR class is an additional 4 hour class that is separate from the CNA prep training. This way you don’t sacrifice your CNA training time that you paid for. Hands-on training is very critical in learning and ensures that you know your skills properly.

Do the math! There are 21 clinical skills that you will need to practice hands-on and also an entire CNA textbook you will need to cover. You must figure that the instructor has to demonstrate each of the 21 clinical skills at least once (so that you properly know how to do it), so how much remaining time is left for you to practice? If you estimate on the low side, allowing the instructor to demonstrate each of the clinical skills just 15 minutes that totals more than 5 hours in demonstration time alone.

So a CNA Prep course offered in less than 25 hours would spend 5 hours in instructor demonstrations with only 15 hours remaining to practice 21 clinical skills, plus you need time to cover an entire textbook. Providing an example of the LOWEST level of education, consider you spend a total of only 2 hours to cover the entire textbook (very poor quality), you are left with 13 hours remaining to practice all 21 clinical skills hands-on. It sounds like a lot, but then if you divide 13 hours by the 21 clinical skills you need to learn, you are left with about 37 minutes per skill for the ENTIRE class to practice at one time. So if the CNA Prep course does not have enough hospital beds for practicing or should you need more help with a particular skill, how will you have time? These are all great questions to ask any CNA Prep course you are checking out or possibly plan to attend.

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7

When researching other CNA Prep courses, ask
if they are dedicated to only healthcare training
or rather a mix of other various training programs?

At Florida Medical Prep, we realize it’s a full-time job keeping up with the forever growing changes and advances within the healthcare industry. Therefore, ALL of our courses focus solely within the healthcare industry such as Phlebotomy, Home Health Aide and Florida Certified Nursing Assistant Prep Courses. We are committed to the healthcare industry and training future healthcare providers and we feel it would be impossible to effectively meet our education objectives by adding other various training programs such as real estate, floral design, forklift operation, construction, etc.

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8

What kind of healthcare training
equipment and supplies are used?

Today, it’s nearly sickening at the numerous businesses that throw together a CNA Prep course using tables as make-shift hospital beds, faded Disney print bed sheets as clinical linens, and cram 12 to 14 students in a room designed for less than 6, for hands-on training clinical skills. So you want to be sure and ask how many hospital beds are in the classroom for clinical training. Also ask to see photos of the facility! We all know that pictures tell a thousand words. For example, Florida Medical Prep has at least four complete hospital bed stations setup entirely with all hospital quality training supplies. Each classroom contains two hand washing sinks and a flushing toilet for your training convenience. We also schedule our classes so that we have use of two classrooms to provide up to 8 complete hospital bed stations as needed. Florida Medical Prep is dedicated to providing ample top-of-the-line training equipment, supplies and space for clinic skills training. Please see current photos of our facility on the photo gallery page.

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9

What kind of refund policy is offered?

Any credible company should offer a refund policy and be able to explain to you in detail! This way you know you have the option to back out if you find that the facility doesn’t meet the standards you expect.

Here at Florida Medical Prep we understand that sometimes you make rapid decisions that you might later regret. To address these challenges, we offer a FULL REFUND of any fees paid within 3 full business days of making your purchase. So you can relax knowing that you have 72 hours to change your mind about your decision to register with Florida Medical Prep. We also give you the option to place a very low deposit of only $50 down to register for a CNA Prep course so that if you do change your mind after 3 days, you don’t lose the entire tuition amount.

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10

Ask your friends, co-workers, and/or family if they know of anyone that has attended the CNA Prep course you are considering.

A true, valid referral through WORD-OF-MOUTH speaks volumes! By asking around, you get real feedback from individuals you trust and a testimony of their personal experience with the training course. At Florida Medical Prep we take great pride in the fact that 88% of our students surveyed in 2009 were referred to us by friends, family, and/or co-workers that had attended a previous CNA Prep training with us.

Florida Medical Prep is dedicated to your success in obtaining a medical career! We are committed to providing you with excellent customer service and ensuring that you get the quality training that you deserve. We fully understand that you have many CNA Prep course options to choose from. But through your own little research, we feel confident that you will find very few of these course options can compare to the quality education and training environments offered at Florida Medical Prep at such affordable rates!

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